Town hall blasted over Walkden farm U-turn as bulldozers prepare to move in

Red-faced planners are to back down and let developers bulldoze one of Salford’s last working farms. In July Salford council rejected an application by Peel Holdings to build 350 houses on Burgess Farm in Walkden. But after taking legal advice the council has now removed its objection – because its officers got their figures wrong.

Facing the bulldozer: The council U-turn could spell the end for Burgess Farm

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Red-faced planners are to back down and let developers bulldoze one of Salford’s last working farms – because they got their maths wrong.

In July Salford council rejected an application by Peel Holdings to build 350 houses on Burgess Farm in Walkden.

Campaigners had long fought plans to flatten the farm, which has 400 sheep, 50 beef cattle and 100 hens.

And councillors also opposed the development, saying there would not be enough housing demand to justify the homes.

But after taking legal advice the council has now removed its objection – because its officers got their figures wrong.

Town hall planners believed that Salford had five years’ worth of housing capacity, but now say it only has two, having incorrectly tallied up population estimates with the number of new houses coming online.

The council says lawyers will not be defending their decision at the planning appeal later this year, although residents are still expected to fight the developer.

The public was banned from a meeting in which councillors were informed of the blunder.

"The local Conservative ward councillors will continue to support people opposing these plans, which will bulldoze precious green land and overwhelm local infrastructure."

The farm’s current tenants lease it off property giant Peel and have lived there for 47 years.

Peel wanted to build a mix of luxury and ‘affordable’ homes and a nature park on 50 acres of the site, which is identified in the council’s planning strategy as suitable for housing development.

But Paul Walker, the council's strategic director for sustainable regeneration, said: "The planning panel’s decision to refuse planning permission for the Burgess farm site was appealed by the applicant and a public inquiry has been programmed.

"However, in the light of new information on housing supply and other matters, we have had to review the reasons that the panel gave for refusal and found that they cannot be sustained. In view of this the panel very reluctantly decided not to contest the appeal.

"The council has written to all those who objected to the application to outline the latest position and to offer advice and guidance."